PERRYSBURG COURT EXPLORERS HELD HOSTAGE FOR SPECIAL RESPONSE TEAM TRAINING

Perrysburg, Ohio – February 8, 2006 – Perrysburg Court Explorers were held hostage for several hours during a training exercise for the Wood County Special Response Team on February 6.  The Explorers volunteered to become victims for hostage negotiation training.  Their roles were to become Perrysburg Municipal Court employees and visitors when a disgruntled person takes the judge and several persons in the courtroom hostage.  The Explorers found places to hide in the building until rescued by the SRT.

“An awesome experience,” said Kevin Swiatek, one of the Explorers.  Jojo Ginn, who was held with Judge Osterud in his chambers for two hours along with Danielle Jensen and Sarah Jender, commented “Even though I knew it wasn’t real, I still felt nervous and scared at times.  But I would do it all over again – it was exciting.”

Other Explorers participating were: Mike O’Brien, Kyle Thompson, Lindsay Kilpatrick, Angela Robinson, Jenna Borton, Rachel Marvin, Brett Samsen, Nicholas Prephan, Matt Jender, Chris Sladky, David Prephan, Kelsey Campbell, Kari Campbell and Kaitlin Burhans.  After the exercise, SRT team members showed the Explorers their equipment and talked about their training.

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